Buffing process



United States Parent BUFFING PROCESS Harvey E. Larsen, Steger, Ill.,assignor to Steger Products Manufacturing Corporation, Steger, 13]., acorporation of Illinois No Drawing. Original application January 23,1952, Serial No. 268,692, now Patent No. 2,6?9,9lll, dated January 18,1955. Divided and this application December 3, 1952, Serial No. 323,925

7 Claims. (Cl. 51-481) This invention relates to an improved buffingprocess and, more particularly, to an improved process formachine-operated cloth-buffing of suitably pre-treated woodwork orfurniture to impart thereto a lustrous finish.

This application is a division of application 263,692, filed January 28,1952, and now Patent 2,699,990, issued January 18, 1955.

In the preparation of. woodwork or furniture such as televisioncabinets, for example, the cabinet is fabricated of suitable wood and isusually then treated by the application of a lacquer coating or finish.The surface is usually also vet-sanded to remove roughness andirregularities of a coarse nature. Then, the surface is bufied to impartthereto the desired lustre.

Heretofore, it has been necessary generally to carry out the buttingoperation by hand, because machine buffing resulted almost invariably inburning the finish-and even the wood, by reasons of the harsh action ofthe machine. Machine buffing, usually by means of a rotary rubbingmotion of a suitably supported buffing cloth urging an abrasive rubbingcompound against the surface to be buffed, is relatively inflexible tothe extent that the machine cannot sense overheating at the buttingsurface. Accordingly, such cabinet buffing operations as were necessarywere carried out by hand, using the usual pumice rubbing compoundsordinarily employed for such pun poses.

ln essence, the bufiing operation involves fine smoothing, by moderateabrasive action, sons to obtain a sulficiently smooth finish surface toimpart thereto a lustrous appearance. Manual buffing, of course, istedious and time consuming. But, as just mentioned, it was heretotorenot possible to exploit the advantages of speed, uniformity and facilityof operation afforded by machine buffing, because over heating orburninginvariably resulted using those available bufiing or rubbingcompounds which were suitably active abrasives for practical operation.

Theinstant invention relates to a machine buffing operation wherein asuitably compounded rubbing composition improves the general inflexiblecharacter of machine balling by cooperating with the buffing cloth atthe bufiing surface to cool, lubricate or otherwise dissipatefrictioncreated heat to permit suitably swift and elfective abrasiveaction without burning.

it is therefore an important object of the instant invention to providean improved butting process.

it is a further object ofthe instant invention to provide an improvedmachine buffing operation which may be employed in the bulling ofsuitablypre-treated or finished woodwork to obtain a brilliant lustrewithout danger of burning the bullied surface.

it is another object of the instant invention toprovide an improvedmachine bufiing process which may be employed for the purpose of rapidlyimparting a lustre to lacquer-finished wood surface without damaging,for ex ample by over-heating either the lacquer finish or the woodsurface.

it is still another object of the instant invention to provide animproved machine bufiing process, whereby rapid but uniquely-cooledabrasive, lustre-imparting .actionis 2,780,041 i 'atentecl F eb. 5, 1957obtained by the use of a machine operated bufiing cloth in conjunctionwith a suitable abrasive, such as tripoli, in an oil-in-soap solutionemulsion, wherein the weight ratio of tripoli to soft soap is about 1:1,and the total water present is about 420 times the solid soap content.

it is yet a further object of the instant invention to provide animproved machine bufling process for use in obtaining superior resultsin the bufling of lacquered cabinet work, wherein the boiling operationis accomplished by cooperative action between a suitable buffing clothand a composition comprising tripoli, soft soap, kerosene and water inapproximately at 212:1:5 weight ratio.

Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention willbecome apparent to one skilled in the art from the following descriptionof preferred embodiments thereof.

The present invention relates to an improved machinebutfing operation ofthe type described wherein a suitable abrasive such as tripoli is usedin the composition in conjunction with about an equal amount of softsoap, a volatile oil such as kerosene in aboutone-hialf that amount, andwater. in amounts ranging from about 4 to 20 times the soap solidscontent.

Most preferably, the butling composition used in the invention isobtained by mixing three compounds accordiug to the following ScheduleE:

Schedule I (a) 3-5 parts of a rubbing compound having the formula:

Proportions ingredientm Preferred, Optimum, percent percent lti. 5 45. 5Ill. 5 l6. 5

Prepared by dissolving soap (1) in water (4), then adding kerosene (3),and finally adding tripoli (2), with agitanon.

(b) 3 parts of a soap compound having the formula:

Proportions and (c), as a diluent, l5 parts of water. (As used herein,the terms parts, percent and '70 means parts or percent by weight,unless otherwise designated.)

It has been found, by repeated operations, that machine operatedcloth-butiing or lacquered television cabinets, for example, may becarried out in a uniquely satisfactory manner so as to obtain optimumresults by the use of the foregoing proportions above designated.

The particular abrasive material found to be most satisfactory istripoli or rose tripoli. it will be appreciated, however, that certainother equivalent abrasives such as silica flour and diatomaceous earthmight well be substituted in whole or in part for the tripoli.

The volatile oil (3), kerosene, found to be most suitable for use incompound (a) may, of course, be replaced in whole or in part by anequivalent mineral oil. features of kerosene is its inexpensiveness. Thekerosene also has limited solvent functions, at least for cleansingpurposes, and also tends to form an oil-in-water emul- 3 sionin theinstant composition so as to assist in improv- It will be appreciatedthat one of the most advantageous ing the uniformity and stability ofthe suspension of ingredients in the composition. The pine oil ofcompound (b) may, likewise, be replaced in whole or in part by anequivalent volatile oil.

As is well known, soaps are obtained by the interaction of fatty oilsand fat with alkali metal compounds to form salts. in the instant case,the soaps found to be most preferable are the high viscosity potassiumsoaps made from vegetable oils. Soap-water systems are ca pable ofexhibiting a variety of physical forms or phases. For example, true soapsolutions (called nigre phase) occur ordinarily when the proportion ofsoap to water is under about 30%. Another phase, is the middle soap orso-called soft soap phase which normally occurs in soap concentrationsranging from 4-0 to 60% solids in water. In commercial practice, aqueoussoap compositions are ordinarily supplied as soft soap (in theconcentration just mentioned) and, accordingly, the proportions ofingredients used herein have been referred to on the basis of the softsoap proportions on certain occasions. it should be noted, however, thatin the preparation of both compound (a) and compound ([1), the amount ofadditional water that is incorporated in each is sufficient to effect a.change from the soft soap phase to the nigre phase, and the water ofcompound is substantially more than the amount necessary to accomplishthat transition with respect to either compound (a) or (b) or both.

Although the exact phenomena involved in accomplishing the uniquelyadvantageous results of the instant invention are not fully understood,it is believed that such results are effected by the combination ofseveral important functions including lubrication, heat dissipation andcleansing.

lt has been found most preferable that the compounds (a), (b) and (c) ofSchedule I be employed in the ratio of 3:3:1. The resulting proportionsare as set forth in the following Schedule II:

Schedule II It will thus be seen that the preferred ratio of soft soapto tripoli to kerosene to water is about 2:2:1z5. It has been found,however, that appreciable amounts of water may be added in addition tothe foregoing proportion of water without producing harmful effects; andin some instances, it is advisable to add additional water, the amountof water employed being to some extent a matter of choice in order toobtain a bufiing compound of the particular consistency desired. Ingeneral, it has been found that the amounts of water incorporated in thecomposition may be such that the final soap solids concentration withrespect to the water is about -20%, preferably.

As can be seen from Schedule II, the bufiing compo sition thusdescribed, constitutes a kerosene-in-soap solu tion emulsion, whereinthe soft soap to tripoli ratio is about 1:1, the water is about enoughto obtain a 10-20% (solids) aqueous soap solution, and the kerosene is aminor proportion with respect to the water, of about 57-20% of the water(or about of the soft soap).

In carrying out the machine-operated cloth-buffing operation of theinstant invention, a cloth-bufling wheel powered for rotary motion maybe employed. Such a bufiing wheel would ordinarily involve a suitablesupporting structure having mounted on a circular face thereof, one or aplurality of layers of suitable resilient material, such as spongerubber. The buffing cloth is wrapped over the resilient material and issupported thereby during the boiling operation, when the buffing clothis urged against the wood workpiece with the butting composition appliedto the surface thereof.

As a detailed description of a bufling wheel preferred for use in theinstant process, the buffing wheel comprises a generally circularbuffing wheel head, a resilient pad mounted on one face of the head, asheep-skin cover for the pad, and a buffing surface cloth covering thesheepskin and resiliently supported by the pad. The head is a suitablyrigid structure adapted to be rotatingly driven and having suitableventilating apertures. The pad consists of one or a plurality of layersof resilient material such as porous or sponge (soft) rubber. Theresiliently backed sheepskin overlies and is supported by the pad,presenting an outer face of a suitable fleece-like Wool material. Thebuffing surface cloth is wrapped about the outer face of the sheep-skin,preferably presenting a fabric working (outer) surface and being made ofany number of wraps of suitable buffing cloths such as cotton, flanneland canvas.

In general, bufiing as well as cloth-buffing operations machine powered,for example, for rotary cloth-buffing motion are well understood in theart and need not here be described in further detail. The unique featureof the instant invention being the particular cooperation between theingredients of the boiling composition when interposed between thebuffing cloth and the surface to be buffed during a machine-operatedprocess.

In general, lacquer coating compositions and the procedures for theirapplication are also well known to those skilled in the arts involvingthe use of such lacquer coatings. in woodworking, lacquers fall into twogeneral classes depending to a certain extent on the formulations aswell as the application and drying methods. One type of lacquer, knownas the buffing or rubbing lacquers which are suitable for use in theinstant invention involves the The above formulation is applied byspraying or the like and is then ovenv dried or baked to form a hardlacquer finish.

In the formation of the soft lacquer or so-called nonbufiing lacquerfinish, a suitable lacquer formulation (which may even be the aboveformulation) is sprayed onto the wooden surface and then air-dried (ascontrasted to force-dried in an oven, for example) under conditions of,for example, room temperature and perhaps times of as little as eighthours. This also is typical of the class of furniture lacquers for homeuse. In general, the air-dried lacquer compositions contain minuteamounts of air-driers, as for example, cobalt naphthenate drier, whichaccelerate the air-hardening elfect; but the essential lacquer coatingingredients are the same class. Examples Turpentine 1750 Butyl alcohol750 The lacquer formulations thus include, as film-forming ingredients,cellulose ester or ethers, plus gums or natural resins dissolved in asuitably volatile solvent to effect quick drying thereof. Additionalheat-curable ingredients may be included in the oven-dried lacquers andadditional aircuring ingredients may be included in the air-driedlacquers; but the oven-dried and air-dried lacquer coatings finallyobtained are recognized in the art as being difierent, particularly withrespect to surface hardness. Prior rubbing or buffing methodsencountered a great deal of dithculty in connection with the oven-driedor so-called rubbing lacquers; but such prior methods were for practicalpurposes inoperative with the air-dried or so-called nonbuifing lacquers(hence, the name).

The instant invention is particularly unique in that it provides aprocess for buffing these soft air-dried lacquer finishes, and in thisrespect, particularly, the instant invention solves a heretoforeunsolved problem and is not merely an improvement over the prior artmethods.

It will, of course, be understood that various details of operation andcomposition may be varied through a wide range without departing fromthe principles of this invention, and it is, therefore, not the purposeto limit the patents granted hereon otherwise than necessitated by thescope of the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A method of imparting a lustre in the finishing of lacquered woodworkthat comprises subjecting the surface thereof to the action of a buffingcomposition urged thereagainst by a cloth covered machine-operatedbufiing wheel, said composition consisting essentially of (a) 3-5 partsof a rubbing compound of 16.5 weight percent soft green soap of 60weight percent solids content, 45.5 Weight percent tripoli, 21.5 Weightpercent kerosene and 16.5 weight percent water; (b) 3 parts of a soapcomposition of 36 weight percent soft soap of 40 weight percent solidscontent, 1 weight percent pine oil and 63 Weight percent water; and (c),as a diluent, 1-5 parts of water.

2. A method of imparting a lustre in the finishing of lacquered woodworkthat comprises subjecting the surface thereof to the action of a bufiingcomposition urged thereagainst by a cloth covered machine-operatedbutfing wheel, said composition consisting essentially of (a) 3-5 partsof a rubbing compound having the formula:

Weight percent Soft green soap (60% solids) 12-20 Tripoli 35-55 Kerosene15-25 Water 15-25 (h) 3 parts of a soap composition having the formula:

Weight percent Soft soap (40% solids) 30-45 Pine oil up to 2 Water 55-70Parts Soft green soap (60% solids) 16.5 Tripoli 45.5 Kerosene 21.5 Softsoap (40% solids) 36 Pine oil 1 Water 112.5

4. A method of imparting a lustre in the finishing of lacquered woodworkthat comprises applying lacquer to a woodwork surface and air-drying thelacquer thereon, and subjecting the surface thereof to the action of abuliing composition urged thercagainst by a cloth coveredmachine-operated bufiing wheel, said composition consisting essentiallyof (a) 3-5 parts of a rubbing compound of 16.5 weight percent soft greensoap of 60 weight percent solids content, 45.5 weight percent tripoli,21-5 Weight percent kerosene and 16.5 weight percent water; (12) 3 partsof a soap composition of 36 weight percent soft soap of 40 weightpercent solids content, 1 weight percent pine oil and 63 weight percentwater; and (c), as a diluent, 1-5 parts of water.

5. A method of imparting a lustre in the finishing of lacquered woodworkthat comprises subjecting an airdried lacquer coated surface thereof tothe action of a buffing composition urged thercagainst by a buffingcloth, said composition consisting essentially of (a) 3-5 parts of arubbing compound having the formula:

Weight percent Soft green soap (60% solids) 12-20 Tripoli 35-55 Kerosene15-25 Water 15-25 (b) 3 parts of a soap composition having the formula:

Vi eight percent Soft soap (40% solids) "30-45 Pine oil up to 2 Water55-70 and (a) 1-5 parts of water.

6. A method that comprises cloth-buffing air-dried lacquer coatedWoodwork with a bufiing composition consisting essentially of (a) 3-5parts of a rubbing compound having the formula:

Weight percent Soft green soap (60% solids) l2-20 Tripoli 35-55 Kerosene15-25 Water l5-25 (b) 3 parts of a soap composition having the formula:

Weight percent Soft soap (40% solids) 3045 Pine oil up to 2 Water 55-70Parts Soft green soap (60% solids) 16.5 Tripoli 45.5 Kerosene 21.5 Softsoap (40% solids) 36 Pine oil 1 Water ...1125

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 28,956Bennett July 3, 1860 743,993 Thompson Nov. 10, 1903 770,732 AndersonSept. 27, 1904 1,141,263 Pease June 1, 1915 1,161,187 Cassimus Nov. 23,1915 1,556,261 Stoddard Oct. 6, 1925 1,813,823 Snukiskis July 7, 19311,927,872 Kramer Sept. 26, 1933 2,332,992 Davis Oct. 26, 1943 2,471,727Creamer May 31, 1949 2,477,234 Brock et a1. July 26, 1949 2,699,990Larsen Jan. 18, 1955

1. A METHOD OF IMPARTING A LUSTRE IN THE FINISHING OF LACQUERED WOODWORKTHAT COMPRISES SUBJECTING THE SURFACE THEREOF TO THE ACTION OF A BUFFINGCOMPOSITION URGED THEREAGAINST BY A CLOTH COVERED MACHINE-OPERATEDBUFFING WHEEL SAID COMPOSITION CONSISTING ESSENTIALLY OF (A) 3-5 PARTSOF A RUBBING COMPOUND OF 16.5 WEIGHT PERCENT SOFT GREEN SOAP OF 60WEIGHT PERCENT SOLIDS CONTENT, 45.5 WEIGHT PERCENT TRIPOLI, 21.5 WEIGHTKEROSENE AND 16.5 WEIGHT PERCENT WATER; (B) 3 PARTS OF A SOAPCOMPOSITION OF 36 WEIGHT PERCENT SOFT SOAP OF 40 WEIGHT PERCENT SOLIDSCONTENT,1 WEIGHT PERCENT PINE OIL AND 63 WEIGHT PERCENT WATER; AND (C),AS DILUENT, 1-5 PARTS OF WATER.